The Tech Cult That Wants to End Democracy

Gil Durán

On this episode of Agitation Nation, host David Fenton speaks with journalist Gil Durán, author of the New York Times bestseller The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy. Durán argues that a cult of Silicon Valley venture capitalists — Peter Thiel, Curtis Yarvin, Balaji Srinivasan and their circle — has spent fifteen years openly planning to replace democracy with corporate autocracy, and has now reached the center of power through JD Vance. He discusses Thiel's role in building Vance's career, the "tech fascist bundle" of AI, crypto and surveillance, why the press missed the story, and the cross-partisan backlash to data centers.